


Due To The Dead

by Higuchimon



Series: Royal Hound [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Diversity Writing Challenge, GX Month 2020, Gen, Include The Word Boot Camp, Mostly Off-Screen Deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26640673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higuchimon/pseuds/Higuchimon
Summary: A defeated duelist dies but their deck remains in the duel disk.  That’s the way it’s always been – until someone wants to break the rules and sparks Haou’s rage.
Series: Royal Hound [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916212
Kudos: 13





	Due To The Dead

**Series:** Royal Hound|| **Title:** Due To The Dead  
**Characters:** Juudai, Wolf (OC)  
**Stories:** 3-5|| **Words:** 3,872  
**Genre:** Drama|| **Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing, GX divergent/alternate timelines, I22, -10 1-shots; Include The Word Boot Camp, #25, sign; GX Month #20, Free Day 2  
**Notes:** This takes place during Juudai's rule as Haou. It's not going to change things that much.  
**Summary:** A defeated duelist dies but their deck remains in the duel disk. That’s the way it’s always been – until someone wants to break the rules and sparks Haou’s rage.

* * *

Wolf didn’t like to go with Haou when he marched off to destroy villages. He understood the reasons but he’d seen enough death and destruction. His loyalty to Haou came from Haou having saved him, not because he thought Haou killing everyone who disagreed with him was right. 

He understood it, of course, but that in no way meant that he would tear out someone’s throat because of that. 

Within reason, of course. 

When he wasn’t roaming the area, keeping those who were far too weak and foolish away from Haou – which happened far more than he would have liked – he stayed at the castle, enjoying being brought food and being able to listen to the plans and conversations. More plans than anything else, since casual conversations weren’t often had in Haou’s castle. 

Skilled Black Magician – Ciardha – sipped at a cup of fine wine. Wolf could smell it clearly; it was a very excellent vintage, even though he would never touch it. He far preferred clear water if he were going to drink anything. Fruits and the products of fruits were for prey, not for a predator like himself. 

“We have to make certain to confiscate the decks from those we defeat,” Ciardha declared. “I encountered someone the other day who’d stolen a deck one of my opponents left behind.” 

Skull Bishop – if he’d ever had a personal name then Wolf hadn’t heard it – frowned. “That’s illegal. A duelist’s deck is to be buried with them.” 

Guardian Baou shrugged. “They’re dead. What does it matte?” 

Almost as one, the five of them glanced towards where Haou sat, his wine cup before him, helmet set to one side, eyes distant as he thought whatever thoughts the unquestioned master of the world would think. 

“What do you think, Haou-sama?” Chaos Sorcerer asked, respect in every word that he spoke. “Even in Brron’s time, it was ordered that a duelist’s deck email with them.” 

Wolf watched, ears perked, curious. At first he thought Haou wouldn’t bother to answer. He didn’t always. But after a few moments, that low voice sounded. 

“Those who take away a fallen duelist’s deck deserve nothing but death themselves.” 

All of the Death Duelists nodded without hesitation. Haou-sama drained his cup of wine in a single draught, then stood up and walked out without another word. Wolf hesitated only a few moments before he followed. 

It wasn’t hard to keep an eye on Haou-sama. His armored feet clinked against the flagstones. Wolf paced him quietly, waiting. Haou-sama said nothing else, but headed out of the castle. Wolf remained next to him the whole way. 

He didn’t know where they were going but he quickly guessed that wherever it was, it was a place few went. The smells of the area were few and far between and very faint at that. Only Haou’s scent remained – he came this way more than anyone else. 

Wolf didn’t ask where they were going. He could tell that Haou-sama didn’t want to talk. He merely wanted to go somewhere. 

The trip took a couple of hours, even at Haou’s brisk walk. There was only the faintest of paths here. Wolf watched alertly as they turned; Haou-sama remained alert and watchful, one hand resting on his duel disk as if he expected to be attacked at any moment. 

But there wasn’t anyone there. What did spread out before them were four duel disks, buried upright in the usual fashion. Haou-sama stepped near them, the visor on his helmet up, and Wolf had never seen his expression so sad. 

He itched to ask questions. He remembered what Holy Elf told him when he’d still been injured – of the fallen friends who’d once stood by Haou’s side, before he was even Haou. Were these their graves? 

Wolf took a careful step closer and sniffed. He couldn’t smell anything other than Haou’s scent, fading from whenever his last visit might have been – and something else. His hackles rose at once and he growled. 

“What is it?” Haou asked, arm with the duel disk raising upward. “Is there someone here?” 

“No. Not now. But there was.” He sniffed again, closer to the graves this time. “I can’t say who. But ” 

He didn’t have the chance to finish the sentence. Haou-sama stepped forward and peered at the slot where the deck lay. His eyes flashed a deeper gold and his growl impressed even Wolf. 

“Someone stole their decks.” Haou pronounced each word like a death sentence. Then he turned towards Wolf. “Find them for me. Find whoever stole them and where they are.” 

Wolf sniffed a little more, carefully moving around the graves, making sure not to disturb them. All four had been violated, the decks removed. There weren’t any footprints – whether the thief hadn’t left any or if the wind had blown them away, Wolf couldn’t tell without a clearer scent. He prowled around, taking careful steps, until a tiny breath of a scent tugged at his nose. 

He tensed at once, taking deeper breaths, then paced slowly forward, following what little bit of a trail there was. Haou-sama followed him, keeping out of the way but staying near enough so they weren’t separated. The farther Wolf went, the clearer the scent became. 

“This way,” he said at last, spying a tiny trail on the far side of the area. Thick trees grew there, with a tiny stream cascading through it. The scent was much stronger there. “Whoever it was stopped there – and it wasn’t that long ago.” 

“How long?” 

Wolf shook his head. “I can’t be sure. At least three cycles of the comet, maybe as many as five.” 

“Can you still track them?” 

“Yes. It will get easier the closer we get, especially if they think they’ve escaped.” Wolf sniffed the air again before he turned back to Haou. “Did you want to return to the castle while I track them down?” Haou-sama did have a great deal to do there, after all. 

But the warlord shook his head. “No. I’ll come with you.” His golden eyes narrowed as he stared at one of those duel disks. “I want to deliver judgment on them without delay.” 

Wolf wasn’t going to argue the point. Not with how furious Haou was right now. 

“Then let’s go.” He leaped forward, ensuring himself of where the scent led, and racing along. Even in his heavy armor, Haou kept up with him. Wolf wasn’t sure of how but he wasn’t going to argue. If Haou wanted to hunt with him, then so be it. 

* * *

Haou tried to keep his anger in check. Truth to tell, he wasn’t very good at that. He hadn’t been ever since he’d seen Brron kill his friends. Remembering that just made it all the worse, and he could never forget. 

Finding out that someone had stolen _their decks_ made him want to find whoever it was and strangle them on sight. And he would – he and Wolf would track them down and then he could take his time ending them. 

Perhaps it would take more than a few moments. He hadn’t even decided if he would duel them yet. Someone who would steal a deck – let alone multiple decks – wasn’t worth the honor of a duel. They didn’t _deserve_ to contribute to Super Fusion. They were lower than the lowest of scum. 

But Wolf would help him find the thief. Haou didn’t regret for a moment having saved Wolf that day, nor of having assigned the poachers to tracking down other prey for him. If they brought that prey back harmed in any way – well, then he would finish them personally. He had only a limited amount of patience with some people and those who disobeyed his orders were on that list. 

Haou tried not to think about how some of those he knew would react to what he did now. He knew how Shou would – though he couldn’t escape the tiny thought that if he could ever _talk_ to Shou, that his former friend would understand. He knew that Shou was still somewhere in this world, or should be. No one had brought his duel disk and deck in, nor those of Jim or O’Brien. So those three remained out there, somewhere. 

Jim and O’Brien likely wouldn’t be too happy about this either. He didn’t know either of them well enough to know exactly what they would do. Perhaps he’d never find out. He would wager on them finding a way back to Earth. 

He wouldn’t be upset if they did. They deserved to live in peace and peace wouldn’t exist in this world for a long time. When it came to that, he doubted he’d ever see Duel Academia again. It wasn’t his world there anymore. He couldn’t look any of them in the face and admit to all the times that he’d failed. 

So he wouldn’t. He’d just stay here and survive, ruling this world without light for as long as he could. 

Going through the forest on the thief’s elusive trail wasn’t easy, at least not for him. Wolf seemed pretty adept at it, but he had to stick to the shadows in order to make progress. Which wasn’t such a bad thing, or even a difficult thing. Wherever the shadows were, that was where he was. 

Wolf cast around at one division of the path. He didn’t see a sign indicating where either path led, and Wolf carefully checked each path while Haou waited at the bifurcation. 

“This way,” the golden-eyed creature said at last, pointing his nose down one path. “It’s very faintly stronger and if I remember, the path leads to a small village where there’s a market. They often sell cards there.” 

Haou’s hands clenched into fists, the armor scraping against itself. Stealing decks was a heinous enough crime all by itself. Selling the decks of the dead went so far beyond that even he didn’t have the words for it. 

He said nothing more, only followed Wolf down the path. The trees thinned out and the stream widened into a larger river. They were hours away from the castle now. He would be able to return whenever he chose, so he didn’t fret too much about it. All of his attention remained on the trail and where it led. 

Before he stepped out of the trees, he stopped, staring forward thoughtfully. Wolf glanced back toward him. 

“Haou-sama?” 

Haou raised a hand before he concentrated, pulling his dark power all around himself. He hadn’t done this except to sleep for a long time now – he guessed it had been months. But if he entered this area as himself, then everyone would run screaming. Which was a pleasant enough sight when he went out on conquest, but for this, he wanted to be a little more subtle. 

When the darkness faded from around him, a person who would have been recognized by only a scant handful of others in this world stood there. He wore simple garb – not the uniform of Duel Academia but more like what the humans of this world wore. All that this had in common with his uniform was that it was red. He also had it lined in black – he was Haou, no matter what. 

Wolf tilted his head, eyeing him quietly. Juudai brushed himself off. It felt odd to not have the armor on. He’d kept it there for so long – it felt a natural as his own skin, really. As if he’d worn it before. 

“If you need to address me, call me Juudai,” Haou said at last. “I don't want anyone here knowing who I am just yet.” 

Wolf nodded at once. “Are you ready, then?” 

Juudai answered by moving forward on the trail. Wolf kept going as well, still following the scent of whoever the thief was. The trail led them all the way down into a small valley cupped by mountains on three sides. It would be well-defended from most attacks but Juudai easily picked out ways that his troops could get through the defenses. 

That would come later. For now he followed Wolf to the palisade's gates, where two warriors stood guard. Both of them gave him a very stern look and Juudai returned them as calmly as he could. 

Oops. His eyes were still gold. He saw no way to change them back and now wasn’t the time since he stood right in front of them. 

Then Wolf nudged his hand and looked up at the guards. Juudai relaxed, remembering that Wolf’s eyes were just as golden as his own. 

“What is your purpose here?” The left-hand guard asked, giving him a cautious look. 

“We’re looking for cards,” Juudai replied, trying to sound the way he did before all of this. He didn’t think he did a good job of it, but neither of the guards seemed to notice. 

“This is your lucky day then. There’s a card seller just setting up.” The right-hand guard declared, gesturing farther onward. “Better get there before anyone else steals the good stuff!” 

Juudai plastered on an expression that looked similar to a smile as he and Wolf entered. He looked forward already to bringing in his troops and crushing it all to nothing but dust. Didn’t they have _any_ standards at all? 

Wolf sniffed again as soon as they were far enough past the gate that the guards couldn’t hear them. “This way,” he murmured, heading down to the marketplace. “I think they came directly here.” 

Juudai nodded, gaze shifting this way and that, searching for anyone who might be the thief. So far all he saw were normal villagers, a couple of warriors and mages, three duel spirits, and that was it. Then they entered the town square, where the market was in the process of being set up. 

Wolf followed the scent directly to one of the vendors, busily setting out stacks of cards. Juudai didn’t recognize the vendor – not a spirit that he knew. But before they came too close, Wolf murmured, “I don’t think he’s the thief. The scent is – off. But those are the decks. They have the thief’s scent all over them. They must have been passed to him.” 

Juudai nodded, little more than a brief tilt of his head as he walked over there. “Find the thief. I’ll get the decks.” 

Wolf at once started sniffing around, while Juudai made his way to the stall. The vendor nodded towards him in greeting. 

“Planning on joining the resistance?” The vendor asked. “I’ve got some good cards here, already pre-built decks too!” 

Juudai’s lips thinned. He didn’t think it was a smile but the vendor must have taken it for such as he didn’t run screaming. “Where did you get them from? Did someone else build them for you?” 

“You could say that,” the vendor said with a broad grin of his own. “They’re very rare cards, too. I’ve never seen anything like them before.” 

Rage choked in Juudai’s throat and heart. He fought it back down only because he wanted the vendor and the thief and he only had one right now. He reached one hand out to touch one of the decks. 

_This is Kenzan’s deck,_ he knew as soon as his fingers touched it. He managed to keep it in check as he lifted up the first card and saw Super Conductor Tyranno there. 

“That’s a good dinosaur deck,” the vendor declared. Juudai set it back down and looked at another one. It wasn’t a deck he recognized but it had been put together with care and skill. He wondered if the owner had fallen to one of his warriors or in some other fashion. 

Regardless, there were far too many of these decks. The thief and the vendor had been doing this far too long. Juudai slowly picked out each one that belonged to his friends and set them in front of him. 

“I’ll take these,” he said, and the vendor gleefully rubbed his hands together. 

“Excellent choices! I’m certain you and your friends will use these decks well. Now, the part that no one likes.” The vendor smiled brightly at him. “For those decks, there will be a very high price.” 

Juudai smiled a very thin smile that had not a drop of humor in it. “I’m not paying anything. These decks belonged to my friends.” Oh, how strange it felt to even say the word. “They were stolen – as you knew well. I am taking them back.” 

The vendor’s jaws dropped and he breathed in, eyes flashing in rage. “If you attempt to steal those, I will have the guards take you!” 

“Try.” Juudai raised his gaze to meet the vendor’s, and his eyes glowed a deep, terrifying gold. “You have no idea of how much I would _enjoy_ that.” 

For a single moment the two of them stared at one another. Then a noise came from one of the houses farther along, that quickly resolved itself into a terrified squeaking and other random noises. Juudai glanced over to see Wolf stepping out of that house, with a spirit that he _did_ recognize clamped between his teeth. 

_Of course. Grave-robber._ Who else would it have been, now that he thought about it? 

A brief movement caught his eye and his hand flashed outward, landing hard on the vendor’s wrist. He tightened his grip and the vendor squawked in fear and pain, dropping the deck that he’d attempted to take back. 

“Let me go! Let me go right now! Guards! Guards!” The vendor howled at the top of his lungs, yanking his arm back, or at least trying. Juudai didn't let him go. “Thief! Thief!” 

Juudai snorted. “I should call you that. Is he the one, Wolf?” 

Wolf dropped Grave-robber down at Juudai’s feet and set one of his own great paws down on the tiny spirit. At best the thieving creature might have come up to Juudai’s waist. Wolf had no trouble keeping it in line. 

“Yes. His scent’s all over the cards.” Wolf regarded him, then turned to the vendor, thoughtful. “He stole the cards and handed them over to you.” 

“I had no idea!” The vendor claimed, shaking his head even more. “Guards! I’m being harassed! Help!” 

Two other guards strode forward, attention on Juudai. “Release him,” one guard ordered. “We’ll get this sorted out.” 

Juudai’s lip curled again. “His minion stole the decks of the dead and he attempted to sell them for profit. I believe there is a _law_ against that.” Even if there hadn’t been, there would be one now. 

“Let us deal with this, youngling,” the second guard advised. “You should return home. We’ll take these two in and see to it they’re properly punished.” 

Wolf stared harder at the two of them, then pulled in a great whiff of air before he snorted. “They share a scent with him,” Wolf declared, nodding towards the vendor. “I wouldn’t trust them.” 

Juudai nodded. He hadn’t had any intentions of doing so anyway. One of the guards reached for the decks however. 

“That’s enough of that. Time for you to go, young man.” 

Juudai struck the intruding hand away. “I will decide what punishment these thieves endure,” he growled. The guard he’d hit glared at him. 

“Young man-” Whatever else he intended to say, Haou interrupted. In a wash of shadows, his armor wrapped around him once again. 

“I declare them both guilty,” he stated. He nodded towards a deep shadow. “Wolf. Go and bring me my Death Duelists.” 

The guards’ jaws dropped. The vendor looked as if he were about to die of fright then and there. Grave-robber whimpered, especially as Haou set one of his own armored feet on him as Wolf stepped away. 

“What are you doing here?” The vendor whispered. Haou gave him a very unimpressed look. 

“I don’t recall giving you permission to speak.” They knew what they’d done wrong. There wasn’t any way they could not know. Soon enough they would deal with the results. 

It didn’t take Wolf long to return. By then, the two guards, the vendor, and Grave-robber all whimpered under Haou’s relentless stare, none of them having the nerve to try escaping, let alone trying to persuade him to spare them. Apparently his reputation had spread all the way here. That was good. It meant less work for him right now. 

All five of the Death Duelists emerged from the shadow, and when they saw their Haou there, all five dropped down to their knees. If there were anyone in the market who doubted his identity, this eliminated it. 

“What are your orders, Haou-sama?” Chaos Sorcerer wished to know. Haou gestured to everyone else in the marketplace. 

“Dispose of them for me. These two are mine.” He stared at the thief and the vendor, his eyes glowing even more brightly as he tore into the vendor’s mind. The vendor shrieked, falling backwards, flailing uselessly. 

Haou learned what he wanted quickly enough. The vendor wasn’t talented enough or clever enough to make a living in any honest way, so he’d turned to being a merchant – and stole his inventory from those who couldn’t defend their property any longer. He used Grave-robber to take the decks, then set up a stall in places like this. It was one of his favorites here because here was where he’d grown up. The guards were his brothers – all of the guards. He’d been the youngest in the family. 

With a noise of disgust Haou dropped his prey. Any death near Super Fusion would empower it, regardless of it occurred via dueling or not. His Death Duelists were already getting a great deal of work done clearing out everyone else. Time for him to do his part. 

It was quick, they had that much going for it. He didn’t bother with excessive amounts of pain. A strike of shadow across each of them, and he could feel Super Fusion’s power increase just that much more. Their bodies broke apart into tiny fragments of light that faded away in a matter of moments. 

He picked the decks up and tucked them into a fold of his cloak before waiting for his servants to finish the work. Once they were the only living creatures there, all five knelt before him again, awaiting their new orders. 

Haou said nothing. He merely gestured them through the nearest shadows, walking through himself last, Wolf by his side. He would return the decks to their duel disks soon enough. He wanted to keep them close just for now, though, to remember what had once been and never would be again. 

He dismissed the Death Duelists on the other side, back at the castle. He glanced at Wolf as they dispersed, two words he wasn't used to speaking anymore finally falling. 

“Thank you.” Without Wolf’s help, he wouldn’t have been able to retrieve the decks, the last and only remnants of his friends. They might not approve of what he did, but that didn’t matter. No one could take these away from him. 

And if they ever tried, he would kill them. He was getting very, very good at that. 

* * *

**The End**

**Notes:** Okay, I’m working to get caught up on GX month. So, for as long as I need to, two new fics per day.


End file.
